New Calls for Gun Limits

Watch President Barack Obama's full speech as he addresses the nation's grief and singles out the bravery of teachers who tried to save children from a gunman's attack on a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

By

Laura Meckler and

Gary Fields

Updated Dec. 19, 2012 3:58 p.m. ET

Several lawmakers Sunday called for reintroducing a ban on assault weapons in the wake of Friday's deadly school rampage. President Barack Obama is also likely to propose gun-policy changes, according to two administration officials.

Churches in and around Newtown, Connecticut held vigils and special services to help comfort those affected by the shootings that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Video by WSJ's Evan Simon.

Community members and visitors in and around Newtown, Connecticut have been erecting makeshift memorials to honor the victims of the shooting spree on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

How do Americans handle their grief in the days following the deadly Connecticut school shooting? Lauren Kenney, bereavement services manager at Hospice By The Bay, offers some insights.

WSJ reporter in Denbury, Conn. An update on the investigation and the aftermath of Friday's deadly shooting in Newtown, Conn. Will include clips and sound bites from President Obama and the weekend. Photo: REUTERS.

Simon Constable discusses the latest on a Connecticut school shooting that left at least two dozen dead with Aaron Rutkoff and Devlin Barrett. Photo: AP.

In an update about Friday's mass shooting, Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police cited a major concern regarding the spread of false information via social media. Image: Associated Press.

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy spoke of the tragedy of Friday's shooting, noting that similar unfortunate events have unfolded elsewhere across the nation recently. Photo: Associated Press.

Mr. Obama, on Sunday evening in Newtown, Conn., said that the nation as a whole is failing in its duty to protect its children and that "we will have to change," without specifying what changes are needed. He said that no law can prevent all violence, but "that can't be an excuse for inaction."

The White House is looking at various options, and the scope and details of the president's approach aren't clear. One possibility likely to be considered is a ban on high-capacity magazines, the devices attached to firearms that store large numbers of bullets and reload them rapidly.

A 1994 ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004 included a ban on ammunition magazines that held more than 10 rounds, although it didn't apply to magazines made before the law went into effect. Recent shootings, including the one Friday, have involved firearms with much more capacity, allowing a shooter to fire many more shots before having to reload, which could allow someone to intervene.

Assault weapons are a class of semiautomatic firearms, those that require a single pull of the trigger for each shot fired and then load the next round automatically. Under the 1994 law, there were 19 models of firearms and copies or duplicates of them that were banned, along with semiautomatic rifles that accepted detachable magazines and possessed at least two other characteristics, including a protruding pistol grip, flash suppressor or threaded barrel or a folding or telescoping stock.

No White House proposal is imminent, and it remains to be seen whether it would be legislative or administrative and how hard the president would push for any legislative initiative.

Mr. Obama, at an interfaith prayer vigil Sunday evening in memory of the victims, noted that this is the fourth mass shooting during his presidency, and declared, "We can't tolerate this anymore."

"Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage? That the politics are too hard?" he asked. But he only committed to vague action—engaging law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educations "in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."

The strength of the gun-rights lobby has encouraged both major parties to avoid gun-control efforts in recent years. In the aftermath of the January 2011 rampage in Tucson, Ariz., which killed six people and seriously injured then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Mr. Obama pursued administrative changes to try and make the existing laws work better. But he didn't propose new laws.

Similarly, in July, following the shooting in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater that left 12 people dead, Mr. Obama said there should be a discussion about gun violence, but he gave no specifics. Republicans generally oppose gun-control measures, and Democrats concluded years ago that the issue was a losing one that divided their party.

But on Sunday, several lawmakers called for reinstating the assault-weapons ban. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," said that on the first day of the new Congress next year, she would introduce legislation to ban assault weapons to, as she put it, get "weapons of war off our streets."

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She said her bill would ban the importation, sale or transfer of certain weapons. The measure also would also ban the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 bullets. She said the proposed ban would exempt more than 900 specific weapons.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who is retiring at the end of this term, also called for reinstating the assault-weapons ban. "We've got to continue to hear the screams of these children and see their blood until we do something," Mr. Lieberman said on "Fox News Sunday."

The debate over firearms in the U.S. is an emotional one. Gun-rights groups argue that any additional restriction could be a first step toward disarmament. They also argue that putting more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens might stop mass shooting incidents.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R., Texas), speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said gun-control laws don't prevent gun violence and that school personnel should have their own weapons to prevent attacks. He said he wished the principal at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut had an assault rifle handy when she and her students faced the shooter Friday.

A spokesman for the National Rifle Association, the nation's biggest gun-rights group, declined to comment. In the past, the NRA has supported gun-safety education programs and some level of gun-safety devices, including the inclusion of child safety locks on firearms and the use of gun safes if deemed appropriate. The NRA's argument, however, was those decisions should be made by individual gun owners looking at their personal circumstances.

Whether Friday's shooting will change national attitudes toward gun regulation is an open question. They barely shifted after the July shooting in Colorado, according to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Forty-seven percent of those surveyed said it was more important to control gun ownership while 46% said it was more important to protect gun rights, slightly different than in the previous survey in April, Pew found.

Automatic weapons such as machine guns, which are highly regulated, fire multiple bullets when the user pulls and holds the trigger. Assault weapons are a class of semiautomatics that have other features such as a bayonet mount, a telescoping stock or a flash suppressor.

It isn't clear whether that assault-weapons ban would have prevented Friday's shooting. All 26 murder victims at the school were killed with a .223 Bushmaster rifle found near suspected gunman Adam Lanza's body, according to state police. It hasn't been disclosed whether that rifle had the features that would have made it an assault weapon and banned it under the 1994 law.

However, the high-capacity magazines in the rifle and in two handguns that also were found at the school would have been illegal to buy when the law was in effect.

The weapons were legally purchased and registered to Mr. Lanza's mother, Nancy, according to federal law-enforcement authorities. Mr. Lanza killed the 52-year-old Ms. Lanza at the home they shared with multiple gunshot wounds to her head.

Gun incidents have rarely led to more restrictive gun laws. One of the most notable exceptions occurred with the passage of an expansive 1968 gun law after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. That law established regulations on gun sales and created the categories of would-be buyers who were prohibited, including felons and those who had been dishonorably discharged from the military.

The ban on large-capacity magazines that was part of the 1994 law was due in part to a deadly 1993 shooting on the Long Island Railroad, in which a shooter used 15-round magazines and was stopped when he paused to reload.

Corrections & Amplifications An earlier version of this article incorrectly implied that a 1994 ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004 prohibited the sale of all ammunition magazines that held more than 10 rounds. The law didn't apply to magazines made before the law went into effect.

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